After a 10-hour flight from Houston to Amsterdam and a
two-hour bus ride from Amsterdam to Groningen, the Houston Dynamo Academy U-17s kicked off their 10-day trip to the Netherlands with a 5-0 win over a U-18 team
comprised of the top players from the club teams in North Groningen. The game
was played in the town of Bedum, birthplace of Dutch international and Bayern
Munich superstar Arjen Robben.

Although the players from Groningen had a significant height
advantage over their Houston counterparts, the Dynamo’s speed gave the Dutch
squad’s backline fits and proved troublesome during the 80-minute match.

Lorenzo Salazar put Houston on the board in the ninth minute after calmly receiving a long ball from left back Alex Ochoa. Salazar
beat one defender, used his body to shield off another, and fired a left-footed
strike past the Dutch goalkeeper.

Houston doubled its lead in the 21st minute.Bryan Salazar played a corner kick to the near post, and Leo Ayala came
streaking into the box to knock the ball into the back of the net.

Although there was a steady rain in the first half, which
followed a thunderstorm that delayed the start of the game 20 minutes, the
Dynamo continued to press forward. In the 31st minute, Lorenzo
Salazar pressured a backpass to the goalkeeper, which resulted in the keeper playing the ball to an open Bryan Salazar. Bryan dribbled past the oncoming defender and fired
past the goalkeeper to extend the Dynamo lead.

With an unlimited amount of subs, and no rules against
re-entry, the Dynamo brought on five subs to start the second half to allow
the full squad to stretch its legs after a long day of travel.

In the 43rd minute, Gabriel Moreno extended the
Dynamo lead to 4-0 after he picked up a loose ball from 35 yards out and sent a
long ball on net, catching the Dutch goalkeeper off his line. Alan Arellano
sealed the game for Houston in the 74th minute after he stole the
ball from a Dutch defender and sent a rocket past the goalkeeper to give the
Dynamo a 5-0 win.

Goalkeepers Adam Masa and Juan Navarrete each played a half
for Houston, helping the squad to its first shutout of the trip.

The Dynamo will train tomorrow and will resume game action
on Tuesday in a friendly against Vitesse at 3:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m.
CT). Complete coverage of the Dynamo Academy's trip can be found on HoustonDynamo.com/Eurovoetbal.